Why is the Gospel of Jesus Christ more secure and satisfying than the world’s message of socialism? How does the way that God calls us to reflect His love different from the world’s version of love in the form of tolerance and equality? All this and more in the new vision casting series starting this week. As church reopens, our desire is to remind ourselves what we’ve been called to do as a people of God and differentiate between what the world offers. Join us as we navigate through our worldviews!
The Gospel of Socialism
By: Ian Opiniano
In this sermon, we began our vision casting series by looking at the worldview that directly opposes our mission to reach others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the worldview of socialism. We learned that the goal of socialism is to establish a kingdom made by man and governed by the laws of man. This is in direct opposition of the Kingdom of God that the Gospel seeks to reveal. We also saw that it is human pride that fuels the endeavours of socialism and the desires of autonomy form God. This is in contrast to the Gospel which brings praise to God; socialism seeks man’s glory, the Gospel declares God’s glory. Finally, we saw how the ultimate goal for socialism is man’s survival in that all the efforts of man to create a utopia is to be saved from the sufferings of this world. As noble as the intent may be, the Gospel teaches that only God can truly save from the sufferings of this life and the next. This is the living hope that we reach the lost with; a hope that assures us that anyone who puts their faith in Christ for salvation will have an inheritance in God’s Kingdom.
The Gospel of Man-Centeredness
By: Joel Mathew
The world promotes a gospel of self where man is at the center and God is at the sidelines. And the church of Jesus Christ is not exempt from being tempted and influenced by such a false gospel. In this sermon, we looked at Paul’s doxology in Romans 11:36 to see how we can inform our worldview as Christians. We learned that we must begin, continue and end with God, in all facets of life. As the world continues to pronounce its hostility towards Christian teaching and practice, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His Spirit, transform our worldview to have God at the center of everything.
The Gospel of Social Justice
By: Ian Opiniano
In this conclusion to our Worldview series, we looked at the world’s idea of social justice and how the Bible calls us to love others. We established the idea that justice in all its forms must start with God; He defines what justice means, and illustrates it in the Gospel. What we see in Scripture is that justice is simply receiving what we deserve without favor, as opposed to the notion of social justice where one receives what they don’t deserve because of favoritism. This demonstrates how social justice shows partiality, as opposed to Biblical justice that is impartial. This is important for believers to understand as justice ultimately illustrates the Gospel; a holy and just God punishing sin, yet in His mercy and grace takes the punishment on to Himself. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is our example of how true justice and love is to be reflected into the world.